The Historic Grizzly

[brotherbear]

Continued...
If we thought a situation might be dangerous, we'd carry a sawed-off shotgun loaded with buckshot. We probably had a couple thousand grizzly encounters in the twelve years we were in Yellowstone, and we never came close to using that shotgun on a bear. I think twice we climbed trees to avoid a confrontation with an aggressive bear, but we were good at it ( climbing trees ), so it never got out of hand. A couple times I walked around a tree and surprised a sleeping grizzly. They huffed and popped their teeth, but they prefer to avoid a man and they moved off. 
I just feel that if you know grizzly behavior, and you make some noise to let them know you're coming, they'll move off. Many times during our studies we moved in on radio-collared bears in their day beds. We knew exactly where they were located, but when we got there, the bear had heard or smelled us and was gone. I don't think people who travel in grizzly country have any idea how many bears they make contact without ever knowing it. Even sows with cubs, and they're the most aggressive. The big boars get testy during mating season, but we found the females day in and day out to be a lot more aggressive than the males. Reply